John & Anne Wiley

2015/01/14

New Views

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People — John @ 09:46

We got some new views of San Diego last weekend, thanks to help from a local pilot there. We’ve ridden the Giant Dipper roller coaster and wandered the other attractions at Belmont Park on Mission Beach, but this is the first time we’ve seen it all from this perspective!

9969 Giant Dipper, Belmont Park

9969 Giant Dipper, Belmont Park

We also got this new view of the U.S.S. Midway aviation museum on the San Diego waterfront.

0004 USS Midway, San Diego

0004 USS Midway, San Diego

We also passed close enough to Seaport Village to smell the gourmet cooking, and look beyond at Balboa Park and back along the waterfront. We have pix of many more familiar places we’ve explored during visits to this sparkling city, but these are my favs from this flight.

0015 Seaport Village & Waterfront

0015 Seaport Village & Waterfront

We can barely wait to fly this new route again on a clear day! 🙂

I’m looking into adding this route into the options on the cool free open source Android Avare aviation app, for the benefit of other pilots.

2014/12/30

Green

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 23:16

We seem to be so caught up in activities of the season that it’s been a long time since we’ve posted. No time right now either, but here’s a hasty share of scenes we’ve been enjoying on recent flights. This one from the region looking across the southern Santa Maria valley toward Lompoc. With the return of near normal rainfall lately it’s all about green!

8874 Green Acres

8874 Green Acres

2014/11/29

Light

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 08:02

We circled the Point Conception Lighthouse again a few days ago, and on the way out West I captured this glorious light in the water.

8058 Water & Light

8058 Water & Light

Clear air, angle of sun, iridescent reflection of sky, reddish sand, bright green seaweed, and a hint of Bahamas turquoise water – all conspired to paint this moment on our magical Light Flight.

8071 Forbidden Light

8071 Forbidden Light

I managed to get permission for this normally forbidden view of the lighthouse from offshore. Few people even see this light, and fewer still from this perspective.

8093 Point Conception Light

8093 Point Conception Light

I was able to snap many views of the point, the light, and the rarely seen sea caves.

8136 Point Conception

8136 Point Conception

From the jagged point to the old light foundation, “new” light, telecom hut, and keepers quarters, to the hidden protected cove, this place has powerful charm.

8169 Calm Day

8169 Calm Day

I circled several times to be in position for this eight foot wave’s arrival at one of the caves. It’s rare to have such a relatively calm sea with almost no wind or turbulence and such clear air. Quite a treat to get permission for this perspective in such idyllic conditions.

8213 Ancient Light

8213 Ancient Light

Then we saw new sights along a route new for us, almost direct from the point to nearby Lompoc. Back when swimming pool filters used diatomaceous earth, this quarry near the outskirts was alive with activity. Now the remains of ancient microscopic diatoms are bathed by today’s light, revealing new shapes and colors in the often silent dig. After a stretch break, Tripp lifted us back into the clear air and we turned toward home.

8295 Evening Light

8295 Evening Light

In the warm glow of approaching sunset we passed this derelict retreat center in the hills six miles or so East of Lompoc. Shadows and light, colors and textures together evoked a meditative quality for me as we passed.

2014/11/25

Layers

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 18:47

We find many layers of enjoyment in SB. When we moved here twenty-some years ago, the first layer was local beaches. Every day we’d stroll the sands, until we discovered other layers and our beach walks dwindled. But on a recent flight, the ancient sandy beach layers of this sedimentary boulder caught my eye.

7590 Broken Beach

7590 Broken Beach

Looking at the pic just now, I noticed that the big boulder is broken. That of course got me pondering the fact that the boulder is an ancient beach broken on today’s sand. Nearby is this beach bungalow said to belong to one of today’s biggest movie stars.

7602 Beach Bungalow

7602 Beach Bungalow

Just as the waves gently swish pebbles at water’s edge, I imagine time in this place washing layers of relaxation into every pore of the people playing there. In the still of night, drifting into to sleep in that music, we dream…

2014/11/23

SB Slices

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 04:12

Lately I seem to like wide panoramic slices of many pics, maybe because they evoke some hint of the vast panoramas we see. Tripp basically gives us, aside from a few window posts, a 270 degree panoramic slice. Here for instance is what a slice of UCSB looked like as we approached along the shoreline.

DSC_7276 UC Slice

DSC_7276 UC Slice

SBA runways show at the left edge, but the main attraction is UCSB with the lagoon highlighted by the mountains beyond. A moment later we took in a similar scene looking back toward Pt. Conception far in the West.

7290 UC West

7290 UC West

Because the pix I post here are reduced they look blurry compared with my full size originals, so I sharpened this one slightly to give an impression of how crisp the views are. After a pleasant cruise along the shoreline past Hope Ranch beaches and mansions, downtown SB comes into view past Shoreline Park (now brown in the drought) at the bottom-center edge.

7421 Shoreline To SB

7421 Shoreline To SB

Soon we’re closer to SBCC and turning toward the northwest, the changed angle further away from sunlight yields a little less haze to emphasize how this campus snuggles into scenic SB.

7427 SBCC Slice

7427 SBCC Slice

Then looking back more toward the west we see colors shift again, along with the different perspective of this small piece of the slice we saw from Tripp. The first point is Shoreline, almost at the horizon is Campus Pt. (UCSB) with a slice of SBA visible to the right of it, and far in the distance is Pt.Conception.

7438 Looking Back

7438 Looking Back

Many scenic slices later we turned over Montecito Village where a few mansions shine green and even sport tall fountains, amid the brown yards of conscientious neighbors.

7457 Oprah's Green

7457 Oprah’s Green

Then on our way back to SBA from this brief tour of paradise we looked past Laguna Blanca allowed to dry up in the drought, to More Mesa, UCSB, SBA and onward toward the west.

7536 Beyond Hope Ranch

7536 Beyond Hope Ranch

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